When I first played Super Metroid in April 1994, it was the most incredible gaming experience I’d ever had up to that point. Period. The atmosphere created by its top-notch graphics, music, and gameplay was palpable, enveloping me deeply into an incredible world of sci-fi fantasy and exploration.

There was only one problem with this otherwise excellent game: once you had finished it — exploring every nook, finding every secret, and collecting every power-up along the way — you had squeezed nearly every ounce of replay value out of the game. For years I wished so badly for a new Super Metroid, even if it were the exact same engine with a completely new world to explore. Well, my friends…in 2006, that wish was granted. Fans of this seminal work can explore the planet Zebes all over again in a new hack by Drewseph and crew called, quite simply, Super Metroid Redesign.

Like Deja-Vu All Over Again

Super Metroid Redesign is exactly as its title says: a complete redesign of Super Metroid. It has a completely new world map, some new items, physics changes, and a few other new features. These features are probably best explained in the “readme” file that comes with the hack, so I’ll quote that below:

Physics Changes:
Something that always bothered me has been the horribly slow falling speed in this game. Every time I jumped I felt like I was wasting time waiting to land on the ground. My reason for changing it is backed up by a Pirate data in Metroid Prime that states Zebes total mass nearly equivalent to Tallon VI. I also Favored changing the physics because in every SM hack I’ve played I get bored rather quickly because I already know everything there is. I know where I can wall jump, that I can bomb jump places, that I can easily get around this place by doing another thing. I have also modified bomb jumping to return to the fast falling speeds of M1 and Metroid Prime. Many tricks you knew in the original will need to be relearned which brings back that “unfamiliar” feeling of gameplay. THATS why I changed the physics.

New Items:
There are 2 new major upgrades that Samus will need to complete her adventure. One of them is required, the other a simple weapons addition to enhance your fire power. Hi-Jump boots now come packaged with Spring-Ball.

Abilities:
Wall jumping has become a bigger part in this hack. IF a wall is rocky and has a gripping surface then Samus will be able to wall jump off of it. However if the wall is a smooth pipe, or an algae covered seawall, then Samus won’t be able to get ANY grip to jump from. A new technique that was Alien to SM has finally been added to the game as well, and you’ll need to use it carefully if you wish to get all 100% items.

Stirrings from the retrogaming community say that this hack possesses a quality that is quite common among game hacks: extreme difficulty. In fact, I’ve read much criticism on a few forums that SM: Redesign relies too much on the difficult “wall jumping” technique to pass certain areas of the game, while others say it is not much of a problem. I’ll let the reader make his own decisions on that point. I myself have not played through the game very far because it is, indeed, very hard. Still, this is the first significant Super Metroid hack out there (that I know of), so it is worth passing along.

Let Me Play it Already!

I typically include a fully playable version of the hacked game in my HT columns, but in this case, the hack is so recent that I’d rather not annoy its creator by doing that. Also, Drewseph seems to regularly make updates to the patch, so you should probably look at the official page for the latest version. Nonetheless, I am mirroring version 2.1 (final) of the patch on VC&G for posterity: you can download the Super Metroid Redesign v2.1 Header or Headerless patch. You’ll have to find and patch the game file yourself using the Lunar IPS (file mirror) tool. If you need help patching, post a comment or a message on the VC&G forum.

[ Update: 09/18/2007 – Here’s a complete world map of Super Metroid Redesign. Special thanks to Brian Clark for sending it to me, and to Kapow for making it. ]

[ Update: 02/03/2012 – I updated the patches from v1.7 to v2.1, which Drewseph says will be the final version of the Super Metroid Redesign patch. I also updated the mirrored Lunar IPS tool from v1.00 to v1.02]

Have you found or made any cool, funny, or weird retro game hacks that you’d like to share? Send ’em along!

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This hack is the best, but how did you do this!!! I’ve been dying to know how to create new functioning doors and new rooms with SMILE, but I just can’t figure it out. please make some sort of tutorial for SMILE or something like that please?

I have SNES9x that I play all of my SNES games on and the file opened and works fine for me no problems, seriously, if you are using ZSNES(whatever ver) you’re probably going to have problems. +The handy turbo button helps a lot on SNES9x

hey Drewseph this pach you made is great. its a little too hard I think in some areas but other than that this is a great challenge and will keep me busy for a while. I loved super metroid ever sence I was a kid and I think that this one is even better than the orginal. Good job!

okay i must admit this hack,…. are pretty much a new game is great i downloaded it of some site which i could put the file straight on PSP hmm i saw a patch called super metroid easy and i was wondering how 2 put it on PSP ? if any pros are hearing this plz i hav a few questions

I’m badly stuck on super metroid redesign and i must know a few lil things to get me out of my 1 month predecament i’ve just about 15 days ago i defeated kraid and now i’m stuck =( in red brinstar i cant get out pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase heeeeeeeelp me do i need high jump boot cause i went into red brinstart without if i do then oops! annd how do i reach the varia suit to get to norfair. at first i thought i needed ice beam but its no where around. please answer my request as soon as possible i cant stand another moment stuck in that red hell of a brinstart its drivin me nut

I got the hack and unzipped it like the read me says. I’ve got Snes9x and it plays the original game rom just fine. However, the patch won’t work with my Super Metroid (E).smc version and I can’t even find the rom file for the Super Metroid (JU).fig file with Lunar IPS. I don’t think Lunar IPS can read .fig files. I am having trouble finding a .smc file version of Super Metroid (JU). Can anyone help me find a japanese/US version that ends in .smc? I use Azureus to find all of my torrents and that is where I got all of my other roms.

4nmissile you need super metroid (JU) [!]. go on google and type in insane roms. then goto insane roms clicks on roms near the topside section of the page. then click on SNES ROMS which will appear somewhere near the middle of the page. scroll down a bit to find category thats says other click on that then a scrollable white box will appear and hundred of roms will be listed (Dont worry there listed alphabetically). scroll down till you find super metroid (JU) [!] patch that rom with smr and all done…

oh 1 more thing make sure u r using SNES9X NOT ZNES. znes does not work.

Birchy you gotta unzip the super metroid rom file first. Make sure it is Super Metroid (JU).smc though. Use the Lunar IPS utility to apply the Super Metroid Redesign patch to the rom file. Read the readme file first in the Super Metroid Redesign folder before patching. Then use Snes9x to load up the newly patched Super Metroid rom which should be the Redesigned version. You can tell the rom has been patched because the rom file size gets bigger after you patch it. I hope that helps.

I’ve been playing for about 4 hours on snes9x v1.51. Great Hack! Thanks to all who made/helped made it! Having to do the wall jumps got infuriating (but I kept my cool :-)… It forces you to learn. It’s not (much of) a problem anymore. Now I just need to find out where to go.

BTW: What’s the difference between the header and headerless versions? I tried to patch with one version (I forget which) and it wouldn’t work. Then I tried the other, it did work.

Dude,
if you ever want to make another game please get in touch, iv got loads of ideas. ive been trying to do it by myself with S.M.I.L.E. but i’m no programer so if you ever feel like another project drop me a line

P.S. i cant get the redesign to work, iv got the japanese version of metroid, iv got the patch and ive patched it(both header and headerless) but it wont play! i use zsnes for the emulator, do you know what im doing wrong?

I have another little tidbit for anyone interested in this game, but who is having trouble finding their way around. You can find a map of the entire planet layout if you go to google and type “Metroid Redesign map”. Click on images and it will be the 7th and 8th picture that comes up. It is very handy for finding your way. It’s not a walkthrough,it just shows you where things are and ways to get there.

I have found that ZSNES does work with Redesign if you use version 1.36. However, I can’t get the up and down to work no matter what buttons I assign them to. That and I can’t get the screen resolution changed when the program is running. I have been using Snes9x mainly. I have gotten pretty far, but it is definitely a hard game.

Keep practicing Ganymede, wall jumping gets easier. I had to learn with the keyboard. There are some cheats for this game too.

man is anyone in maridia yet? i cant get to one of the guardians (i think its sector 2). theres these four barriers with blue tabs that you shoot, and i cant open the middle two, ive been trying to cross this small part of sand to get to them but its impossble because of the stupid waterfall. thanks for any help

Here is a link to some Action Replay codes for Super Metroid. I have tested them and they do work with Redesign. If you want to experience the true sence of the game then I suggest you don’t use them or at least don’t save. They do make it kinda fun though. I am not responsible for the effects of the codes though or the game state if you use them. Here is the link http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/file/588741/44179

Does anyone have a working link to a walkthrough for this? I need to get the bombs to proceed and I can’t find them.

The wall jumping is extremely annoying. The timing has to be precise, and if you accidentally press the wrong direction on the controller (like if you press it diagonally) it won’t work. So if you are going to play this, make sure that your controller is precise and flawless (mine isn’t). I’m going to stick with it for a while longer.

DeeperThought, I don’t know of any walkthroughs. There is a map that shows the location of all items, bosses, types of doors and what have you though. It shows where the bombs are. You have to go up to your ship and go to the left. The map can be found by going to Google and clicking on “images”. Then just search for “Metroid Redesign mapâ€. The map for this game hack will be the 7th and 8th picture that comes up. It is very handy for finding your way. Itâ€™s not a walkthrough, it just shows you where things are and ways to get there.

I have to apologize. The map on Google isn’t there anymore. I just tried searching for it and can’t find it no matter what I type in. I do have it saved on my computer though so if anybody wants it just send me an email and I will email it back to you. My email is gsx20@hotmail.com and put Super Metroid Redesign or something similar in the title of your email. I wish I could just host it somewhere.

Also, google video has a few videos on Redesign. One guy made quite a few videos that show how to get nearly 100% and he starts out like the average player. Don’t just search for Super Metroid Redesign because they won’t come up. He labeled them all differently. Follow this link and when the video loads look on the righthand side at the other videos he made. There are around 30 or so that cover from the beginning to the end.

Word of warning though if you watch them. He does get frustrated at times and uses some colorful language. So if you are sensitive to that then watch at your own risk. Other than that they are great for learning item locations and how to get through areas if you are an average player.

i downloaded the patch, attached it to the rom using lunar ips and have tried playing it through two version of zsnes (1.36 and 1.5) and one of snesx9. IT either stops.freezes after the nintendo logo or freezes at the same point in the flashback/backstory thingy. Im desperate to play this so help is valued

I have done everything you have all said to do, I used the Headerless one & it said, This rom was patched successfully. When I played it the SNES logo came on and then it froze. Thats it I give up I don’t know what else to do.

Every time I copy the game and attach the hack to it, the message “Rom Patched successfully” comes up. I then open it & the snes logo comes on then it scrambles and freezes. Does anyone else have this problem, add me to AIM I’m new at this. Thank you

I’m having the same trouble as Louis. I have the Super Metroid (JU) [!] rom, patch it using Lunar IPS v1.0 using the headered redesign
I then run Snes9x v1.43 (windows) and open the patched rom.
The nintendo logo appears then fades away then nothing else happens

i have the same problem as jack and kirbs. using super metroid (JU) rom, using lunar ips v1.0 with attempts at both headered and unheadered redesign patches. using snes9x 1.51 and after nintendo log appears, freezes

I would like to comment on the resdesign of super metroid. I once thought last year if someone could redesign Metroid 3, and I cant believe it actually happened. BIG THANKS to all users who took part in such a fantastic creation. I just began playing this video game, and I’ve just retrieved the wall jump boots. God this game brings back so much memories.

To all users who are having trouble running the game, read the readme.txt file onboard the ZIP archives.

I’m having the same problem as everyone else.
Though i know I do not have the JU version.
Can anyone link me to it (or send it to me)?
I hate when people ask for stuff like this but i’m out of ideas. I’ve scoured for a long time and i cannot find it anywhere. (excluding torrents, which i can’t use on this comp).

I found the JU file, and I’ve followed every instruction to the letter, and yet it still does not work. I am very frustrated and about to give up on this.
I’m sure it’s a blast but there seems to be no way to get this working. Can someone please help?

I posted my frustration rant before i even saw your very helpful post Benj.
I am so utterly impressed that someone answered so quickly when i see that the most recent post was in January. You sir, are awesome. Even if this doesn’t work, thanks so much.

Thank you Benj Edwards. I’ve always loved Super Metroid very much. And after learning of this redesign I had to play it but I couldn’t get it to work for the life of me. But after coming here and reading for a minute your posts had me playing it within 10 minutes. Thank you, I am loving this hack. LOVING it! One more thing to anybody who can answer, is there an item checklist anywhere? So I can know the maximum amount of missiles and bombs available. Thank you.

For everyone who is saying that redesign won’t work on ZSNES, I’ve managed to get it to work and to play fine. Don’t exactly remember how, but I used the auto-patching on ZSNES. (In case it’s a factor, I used the JU version)

Super Metroid Redesign DOES work, with ZSNES 1.51, with rom Super Metroid (JU) [!].smc , from a torrent pack “best of snes” from thepiratebay.org, unheadered version of patch, used Lunar IPS from romhacking.net.

But I think I’ve encountered a glitch. There’s a chozo statue you have to really annoying shit to get. First you find two holes in the floor and find triggers to get using bomb, then you hook back around and find 2 more triggers to shoot, before you can get to the area the statue is in.

The part where you have to get through a sand pit after going through a tunnel in a wall has me trapped. There’s 2 ledges overlooking a small sandfall, and quicksand beneath. Once you get below the ledge level, the rom behaves as if the ledges were connected, and I can’t get over this shit.

well what I’m wondering is why the creators of this game didnt just make the rom playable with out a patch. like no patch process… it probably would of made things really simple. although i did download the file from Benj Edwards but what I’m not sure if this file needs anything or not.. I’m assuming that it doesnt.

For anyone who might have trouble with patching: what I did was unzip the super metroid (JU).zip and copied the .smc file somewhere I could easily find. Then, with the IPS utility application downloaded from this page, I applied it to the .smc file by choosing the Metroid_Redesign ips patch from the Headerless file. I then downloaded snes9x v1.51, and it worked! Some of the SM files caused the game to freeze during the logo appearance, which I saw was the case for some people, so I had to download like 5 or 6 different super metroid (JU).zip files until I found one that actually worked (I searched ”super metroid JU” on google).

This game is awesome!!!! I’ve wanted to make my own snes game for a long time. I’ve played for like 2 minutes and I’m pumped! Ultimate thanks to Drewseph and the others!!

then all i did was went on win32zip/rar And then drag the supermetriod headers.ips to my desk top then draged the JU.ips on the headers then they just went in to eachother thts how i patched it with nothing with lurnar file all anything then i just finaly draged the fle to my snesx9 an its played in a small window WOOHOOO an now i can play with it on my VISTA HOME BASIC 🙂 hope this helps 🙂

i unzipped the file, patched SUPER METROID headered to SuperMetroid(JU)[!] and tried headeredless but it still wont work. it says nintendo, then it doesnt work right after nintendo fades away. i have SNES9x ver 1.51. where can i find a super mertoid rom that plays super metroid redesignwhen u patch it. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL HELP

Very idiotic IMO, to require people to type in a password to unzip, AND then download a special 3rd party utility (key logger, hack? why the need to for this?) in order to play. All the hassel just to make sure people read the documentation first??? The information in it, wasn’t that important.

I almost passed up on playing this myself, but thankfully someone here posted a link to a ready to play SMR file.

FIRST OF ALL IM A BIG METROID FAN AND SECOND I THINK THIS HACK WAS WAY OVERDONE SAMUS FALLS LIKE A STONE AND IT DRIVES ME NUTS AND THAT WAS THE FIRST MISTAKE IN THIS GAME HACK SAMUS HAS THRUSTERS ON THE BACK OF HER POWER SUIT THAT HELPS MAKE HER KINDA FLOAT A LITTLE IN THE AIR SO THE PERSON WHO MADE THIS HACK DOESNT UNDERSTAND METROID AT ALL
SECOND THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE HAVING PROBLEMS RUNNING THE GAME HERES THE EASYEST WAY (YOU DONT NEED A PATCH PROGRAM AT ALL) FIRST UNLOCK/EXTRACT THE PATCH FILE.. DOWNLOAD THE LATEST ZSNES EMULATER ITS V1.53 NOW I THINK THEN
MAKE SURE YOU UNLOCK THE PATCH WITH THE PASSWORD THATS IN THE README THEN DRAG THE .IPS FILE INTO YOUR SUPER METROID ROM FOLDER THEN RENAME THE IPS PATCH FILE THE SAME NAME AS THE ROM .SMC FILE BUT DONT CHANGE THE .IPS OR THE .SMC AT ALL THEN CLICK ON THE SUPER METROID ROM FILE AS IF YOUR GOING TO PLAY THE GAME THE PATCH WILL AUTOMATICLY LOAD WITH THE ORIGINAL ROM HAVE FUN PLEASE NOTE: YOU CAN DO THIS WITH ANY OTHER IPS PATCH FILE IF YOU WANT TO REVERT BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SUPER METROID JUST DRAG THE IPS FILE OUT OF THE SUPER METROID ROM FOLDER IF ZSNES DOESNT RUN THE GAME YOU HAVE TO TELL THE COMPUTER WHAT PROGRAM TO USE WITH THE “OPEN AS” CONFIGURATION AND SELECT ZSNES FROM THERE HOPE THIS HELPS

I`m stuck and drewseph`s speedrun is confusing. Right now I have::;;
4 energy tanks and 1 reserve tank— speed booster—hi jump boots—Bomb—morph ball—Charge beam—Ice beam—Wave beam—varia suit–67 missles—6-9 super missles— 7 power bombs—x-ray scope—grapple beam. I have killed Torizo, Spore Spawn, Kraid, And Crocomire. I am at Samus` ship and heading to Lost Caverns. Should I go Back to norfair to get the screw attack or not. Did I miss Something that I was Suppossed to get? Am I not suppossed to go to Lost Caverns yet? Email me at Deadly1935@hotmail.com Someone please helpme!!!